[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 193 (Wednesday, October 6, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54272-54273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25978]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 092999C]


Pelagics Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS); Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA); 
scoping meetings; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces its intention to prepare an EIS on Federal 
management of the fishery for pelagic species in the Exclusive Economic 
Zone (EEZ) waters of the Western Pacific Region. The scope of the EIS 
analysis will include all activities related to the conduct of the 
fishery authorized and managed under the Fishery Management Plan for 
the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region (FMP) and all 
amendments thereto. Additionally, NMFS announces its intention to 
prepare an EA on the fishery for pelagic species in the EEZ waters of 
the Western Pacific Region. The scope of the analysis of the EA will 
include all activities related to the conduct of the fishery for the 2-
year period NMFS anticipates is necessary to prepare the EIS. Both the 
EIS and EA will examine the impacts of pelagics harvest on, among other 
things, sea turtles and seabirds.
    NMFS will hold concurrent scoping meetings to provide for public 
input into the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts that the EIS 
and EA should consider. Scoping for the EIS and EA commences with 
publication of this document. In addition to holding the scoping 
meetings, NMFS is accepting written comments on the range of actions, 
alternatives, and impacts it should be considering for this EIS, as 
well as comments on the scope of the EA.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted through December 6, 1999.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting times.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to be included on a mailing 
list of persons interested in the EIS should be sent to Marilyn 
Luipold, Pacific Islands Area Office, NMFS, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 
1110, Honolulu, HI 96814-4700.
    See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for meeting locations and special 
accommodations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Luipold, 808-973-2937 or 2935 
extension 204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the United States has exclusive 
fishery management authority over all living marine resources within 
the EEZ between the seaward boundary of each state or U.S. island 
possession seaward to 200 nautical miles from the baseline used to 
measure the territorial sea. The management of these marine resources 
is vested in the Secretary of Commerce and in eight regional fishery 
management councils. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has the responsibility to prepare FMPs for the marine 
resources that require conservation and management in the Western 
Pacific Region. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires 
preparation of EISs for major Federal actions significantly impacting 
the quality of the human environment (40 CFR 1502.9(a)).
    The FMP was developed by the Council, and regulations implementing 
management measures were published on February 17, 1987 (52 FR 5983). 
An EA was prepared for the action implementing the FMP. The FMP has 
been amended seven times, and NEPA environmental documents 
(environmental assessments, categorical exclusions, findings of no 
significant impact, and an EIS) have been prepared for each FMP and 
regulatory amendment. However, many of these earlier documents have 
become outdated and/or focused on individual management actions, making 
it difficult to obtain a comprehensive view of issues and management 
options for the fishery as it exists today. NMFS is undertaking 
preparation of a comprehensive EIS in order to analyze the fishery as 
it is currently conducted, to address any and all impacts that might 
have been overlooked in earlier analyses, and to improve management of 
the fishery. The Federal action under review is defined as, among other 
things, all activities authorized and managed under the FMP, as 
amended.
    The EIS will present an overall picture of the environmental 
effects of fishing as conducted under the FMP, rather than focusing 
narrowly on one management action, and will include a range of 
reasonable management alternatives and an analysis of their impacts in 
order to define issues and provide clear basis for choice among options 
by the public, the Council, and NMFS. NMFS intends to assess the 
biological and socio-economic impacts that result from regulation of 
the pelagic fisheries of the Western Pacific Region, including license 
limitation, as well as present and potential controls on effort, 
harvest levels, location, timing, and methods of fishing. The effects 
on associated species, including interactions with protected species, 
will be assessed. NMFS intends to evaluate the significant changes that 
have occurred in the pelagic fisheries, including the significant 
cumulative effects of changes in fishing activities, socio-economics, 
the environment, and management. The assessment will include analysis 
of the cumulative or incremental impacts of actions and alternatives. 
Impacts associated with status quo management (i.e., continuation of 
fishing as currently conducted) will be presented and compared to 
situations simulating limits on fishing areas and/or gears over all or 
parts of the management area. Possible alternatives to the current 
conduct of the fishery include a range of area and/or seasonal closures 
for the longline fishery, gear restrictions and/or modifications, 
including prohibitions on the use of longline gear in some or all of 
the management area, and adjustments to requirements for handling 
incidental hookings and takings of protected species. The impacts of 
EEZ fishing activity and harvest on the marine environment will be 
assessed under representative alternative management scenarios that 
will ensure consideration of impacts that may reach beyond the EEZ. As 
the number of possible alternatives is virtually infinite, the EIS will 
not consider detailed alternatives for every aspect of the FMP. 
Therefore, a principal objective of the scoping and public input 
process is to identify a reasonable set of management alternatives 
that, with adequate analysis, will sharply define critical

[[Page 54273]]

issues and provide a clear basis for choice among the alternatives.

Issues

    The environmental consequences section of the EIS will display the 
impacts of pelagics harvest accruing with present management 
regulations and under a range of representative alternative management 
regulations on Western Pacific ecosystem issues. These issues include: 
essential fish habitat (EFH), target and non-target species of fish 
(including tunas, swordfish, and sharks), fish that are discarded, 
marine mammals (Hawaiian monk seals and cetaceans), sea turtles, and 
seabirds present in the Western Pacific ecosystem. In addition, the 
environmental consequences section will contain a summary, 
interpretation, and predictions for socio-economic issues associated 
with conduct of the fishery on the following groups of individuals: (1) 
Those who participate in harvesting the fishery resources and other 
living marine resources, (2) those who process and market the fish and 
fishery products, (3) those who are involved in allied support 
industries, (4) those who consume fishery products, (5) those who rely 
on living marine resources in the management area either for 
subsistence needs or for recreational benefits, (6) those who benefit 
from non-consumptive uses of living marine resources, (7) those 
involved in managing and monitoring fisheries, and (8) fishing 
communities.

EA Issues

    In the EA, NMFS intends to evaluate whether the conduct of the 
current fisheries over the next 2 years will have significant 
environmental impacts. The Federal action under review in the EA is 
defined as all activities authorized and managed under the FMP, as 
amended, for the 2-year period anticipated to be necessary for 
preparation of the EIS. The EA will present an overall picture of the 
environmental effects over the next 2 years of fishing as conducted 
under the FMP. Efforts will be made to quantify and explain the 
intensity of projected impacts on EFH, target and non-target species of 
fish (including tunas, swordfish, and sharks), fish that are discarded, 
marine mammals. (Hawaiian monk seals and cetaceans), sea turtles, and 
seabirds present in the Western Pacific ecosystem. Additionally, the EA 
will evaluate socio-economic impacts associated with the fishery on 
groups of individuals, including fishing communities, harvesters, 
processors and marketers, consumers, subsistence and recreational users 
of living marine resources in the management area, non-consumptive 
users, and individuals involved in allied support industries and 
management and monitoring of the fisheries. Although the focus of the 
EA will be analysis of impacts associated with continuation of fishing 
as currently conducted, reasonable alternatives for application in the 
2-year period, including area and/or seasonal closures for the longline 
fishery, gear restrictions and/or modifications including prohibitions 
on the use of longline gear in part or all of the management area, and 
adjustments to requirements for handling incidental hookings and 
takings of protected species, will be addressed.

Public Involvement and Meeting Times and Locations

    Scoping for the EIS and EA begins with publication of this 
document. An informational presentation of the project will be made in 
conjunction with the Council's October meeting and will be at the 
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, 2255 Kalakaua Ave., Honolulu, HI, October 19, 
1999, at 6:30 p.m. Subsequent scoping meetings are planned during 
October and November for the Hawaii Islands of Oahu, Maui, Hawaii, and 
Kauai, and during November in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, 
and American Samoa. Specific times and locations will be announced in a 
separate Federal Register document. The Responsible Program Manager for 
this EIS is Rodney R. McInnis, Acting Southwest Regional Administrator, 
NMFS.

Special Accommodations

    Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids 
should be directed to Marilyn Luipold, (see ADDRESSES), 808-973-2937 
(voice) or 808-973-2941) (fax), at least 5 days before the meeting 
date.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et. seq.

    Dated: October 1, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-25978 Filed 10-1-99; 4:29 pm]
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